SC2 Week: Map Editor How-To

As part of our ongoing celebration of all things StarCraft, we're hosting a Starcraft smörgåsbord, with a different theme for each of the days leading up to and the week following SC2's release. This article is a part of the "Everything We Know About StarCraft Day", the first of the bunch, and walks you through the steps of creating an incredibly awesome SC2 Map.

StarCraft II is going to be huge. Playing the beta, it's hard not to get the impression that you're standing at the bottom of an oversized dam that's making ominous groaning noises as cracks race across the concrete. Traditionally, the sequels of successful games are hurriedly belched out by the developer. Thanks to Blizzard's laconic development style and eye for perfection, StarCraft II has taken closer to 11 years. The confidence behind this game is so strong that it's even being released as a trilogy, bolstering the unit roster and introducing a new single-player campaign with each release.

That's why I've started getting to grips with the Galaxy Map Editor, even though you can't currently play custom maps against other people. It's a kind of future-proofing to make sure I stay one step ahead of the rest of the aspiring map-makers out there. If you've got access to the beta (or live version if you're reading this later) and feel like joining me, the following 12 steps will walk you through making your very own full-fledged 1v1 multiplayer map.